Célèste's Review of S1E8 "Love & War & Snow"

“Love & War & Snow”

Season 1, Episode 8

Original airing: December 14th, 2000

My Rating: 72

The Good: 

• The return of Max pays off in a major way. The chemistry between Max and Lorelai is great, but there’s still conflicted feeling to be felt surrounding their relationship. It’s a punch to the gut when Luke sees them kissing, and Rory’s implied longing to see her parents together is quietly sad. 
• So many things had to line up to make this series of events happen, which would normally feel like writers manipulating the plot, but here, the conceit of snow being magical, and Lorelai and Max’s refrain about fate and kismet give the show permission, just this once, to let everything fall into place. Plus it all gets turned on it’s head in the final act when everything becomes spectacularly messy.
• There are some truly beautiful snowy tableaus in this episode, and the snow looks real almost all the time, which is rare for TV. Everything feels really magical and romantic, just like Lorelai says. It just works. 
• There’s very little Dean, and when he does show up Lane is annoyed by his presence, which gives us a bit of an ally. 

The Bad: 

• The awkward moment with the photo album just feels a little too abrupt and contrived. I have trouble believing that Richard and Emily couldn’t handle that situation any more gracefully or with any more compassion than they did. It was just a bit overplayed. 
• Lane’s story is nice if a little underdeveloped. The focus here is on Lorelai, and that’s fine, but it would be nice if Lorelai’s advice had been a bit more specific to Lane’s situation instead of just giving herself as an example with the implication that Lane will somehow figure things out. Lane’s reconciliation with Rory was equally disappointing. They mostly made jokes, and there wasn’t enough of a sense that Rory understood how much she’d hurt Lane. It was just a little rushed, as were most scenes in Lane’s subplot. 

Favorite Moment: 

Luke sees Lorelai and Max kissing in the snow. I’m not sure “favorite” is exactly how I’d describe it, sense it was a bit upsetting, but I thought this moment was so affective. It snapped the audience out of Lorelai’s dreamland and reminded us of the complications of love. 

The Bottom Line: 

Best episode so far in season 1.